


Till Death Do We Part

by chronohari



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing, The Last of Us
Genre: F/M, M/M, it was halloween and I got inspired to do an AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-14
Updated: 2017-10-14
Packaged: 2019-01-17 02:01:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12355131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chronohari/pseuds/chronohari
Summary: You and Shuichi grew up together having to face the troubles and hardships that came with the era of epidemic that you were born into, the infection of the mutated Orphiocordyceps Unilateralis. Though you two are as careful as careful gets, everyone makes fatal mistakes.





	Till Death Do We Part

You two had lived out your entire life during the cordyceps epidemic. Having both been born many years following the initial outbreak, the harsh life in the quarantine zone was nothing particularly out of the ordinary. But a few years ago, you and Shuichi had been forced out of the place you called home after an attack from the notorious Fireflies.  
Living out in the wild was tough at first, of course, but you’d learned to adapt to surviving. You two always had each other’s backs, whether is was defending each other from the infected, or patching the other’s wounds. You were both careful about avoiding infection, especially Shuichi, who took every precaution to ensure that you hadn’t been bitten or made sure you wouldn’t breathe in any pesky spores. You’d occasionally  poke fun at him for being such a neat freak about it, but he always responded with his new catch phrase: “I’d rather be safe than sorry.”

  
You were never able to stay in one place for too long, knowing what kind of wicked creatures would find you if you did. It was a habit to keep moving forward, especially since you knew that no other quarantine zone would take the two of you in out of pure fear of risk of having the infection spread. You could trust no one but each other.

  
All these exact memories played in your head as you trudged behind Shuichi, who had been leading you two to a rusted building, obviously abandoned as the wild vegetation growing through the cracks and windows proved so. A wave of musky air soon hit you, and you knew there would be a good chance that there were spores lingering around. Shuichi knew it too as he urged you to put on your gas mask, applying his own in the process. But though he may have been careful in that aspect, he failed to notice one thing.  
A crack in the mask. Formed when he’d struggled with fending off a couple of infected. That was to be his imminent downfall. And only after passing through the spore infested area did he notice the breach, his careless mistake. He had inhaled the spores, and he knew for a fact that he wasn’t lucky enough to have been immune. Tears pricked his eyes at the realization. He was scared. He was scared to realize he’d become a mindless zombie like his fellow brethren. He was scared to realize he’d wind up hurting other people. He was scared to realize he’d might even bring harm upon you. He was trembling like a leaf as these thoughts invaded his head, and you had no clue. You were blissfully oblivious, and that had only further conflicted him. He couldn’t bring himself to tell you, but he didn’t want to hurt you either. And there was no way he was going to force you to bring an end to his life, he just couldn’t make you go through the trauma of putting a loved one out of his misery.

  
He knew his time was running out at an sickeningly quick pace. And because of how dangerous this is, he knew he would never be able to live the cliche of spending his last moments with you, it was far too risky. He thought it to be best to stay with you for the rest of the day, and leave a note of his departure while you slept. Yeah, that’s going to be the plan.

  
The more time he spent with you that evening, the more it hurt him inside, knowing that it was going to come to an end, but for good this time. The sun was beginning to set as you two had found a place to sit and watch, a rare luxury that you could only enjoy once in a blue moon in this world. Your hand ghosted over his own, prompting him to gently grasp it, running his thumb soothingly over your knuckles and pulling you close to him. His grip around you was tight, almost scared to let go as he snuggled his face into your disheveled hair, despite the fact that it reeked of dry blood and sweat. It was a slow and tender moment of just enjoying each other’s company without a single care, and it was to be one of your last together, and he was going to make it count. He could feel a lump form in his throat as hot tears began to well in his eyes. Once he felt your arms wrap around his torso, he couldn’t keep it in. Tears flowed freely down his face and found their way in your hair. You could feel his body begin to quake as he sobbed into your tangled hair, and you rubbed his back to help calm him down, even just a little.

  
“S-s/o… I love you.. So much…” He managed to choke out between relentless sobs. You repositioned yourself in his lap so you could see him better. You brushed the tear soaked hair from his face, only for him to divert his gaze to the side. You took his face into your hands, feeling the wetness of his tears soak into your dried palms, and forced him to look you in the eye.

  
“Shuichi… I love you too…” you cooed, bringing him into a comforting hug, his head now resting upon your chest, listening to your heartbeat as you just whispered only loving things to him. Oh how he hopes that heart will continue to beat for years to come, until it’s able to calmly beat in a world without the fear of becoming infected like the man you called your significant other.

  
Nighttime was approaching, and he couldn’t stay any longer. It was only a matter of time before the infection starts making quick work of his brain. He just had to wait for you to fall asleep, and then he could disappear. You were already ‘cozy’ in your makeshift bed, the backseat of a totaled car you’d found near the outskirts of a deserted city. This was the last time Shuichi was going to see you, well, as a human, at least. You smiled up at him, opening your arms for the traditional good night hug. He gave a small chuckle at your antics before obliging, leaning down so you could take him in your arms. “Good night, Shuichi. I love you.”

  
This time he had to prevent his crying, at least until he could go. “Goodnight, S/o, I love you too.” He then kissed you goodnight, or rather, goodbye, before taking his spot in the cramped space. He had to wait until he knew you were asleep before he could slip the note and take off. It was now or never, Shuichi, now, or never. When he knew for sure that you were out like a light, he tucked the note securely into your arms before carefully exiting the car, walking off into any direction that took him as far away from you as possible, just so you can be safe from him.

  
The next morning, you woke up, feeling something thin and crispy against your arms.You looked down to see it was a note, and it was decorated in Shuichi’s handwriting. You tore your eyes away from the note briefly to inspect the seat next to your’s, the one Shuichi should have been in. Empty. Worry boiled itself in the pit of your stomach, your attention now back to the crumbled note, hoping it would help to answer some of your questions.  
  
_**“My dear S/o,**_  
  
_**I couldn’t say it, but yesterday, I inhaled some of the spores in the passageway. It wouldn’t be long until I became one of them. I left late last night so you wouldn’t have to be faced with defending yourself against what used to be me. Please remember the good times we’ve had. I want you to seek out Kokichi’s hideaway, like we’ve been doing. I’m sorry it turned out like this.**_  
 _ **I love you.**_  
 _ **~Shuichi”**_  
  
As you clutched the paper in your hands, you caught notice of small areas growing damp, as you had unknowingly been crying as you read through his words. As much as you had just wanted to be strong for him and continue the journey alone, you couldn’t. You just sat there, in the backseat of that car, curling up into a ball, hugging your knees and pressing your face into them, letting out a distressing cry, knowing that there was no way he was coming back at this point, not as the Shuichi you once knew. All you could let yourself do was let out your bottled up sadness, frustration, and despair in the form of ugly sobbing.  
You knew after a good few minutes of crying, you had to get moving, whether you liked it or not, as you were almost positive your wails must have alerted some nearby clickers, and you knew that Shuichi would have wanted you to live, something he failed to do himself. With that thought pushed to the front of your mind, you took your bags in hand and moved your feet to your next destination.  
  
The next few days for you were absolutely grueling. Not only were you missing your significant other, you were also left to survive all on your own, something you weren’t familiar with. Thankfully, though, you had managed to find where Kokichi and Gonta had been hiding themselves in the nearby city, helping them out in exchange for a place to stay. For once, you found yourself having a particularly slow day, as everything that needed to be done had already been done, and you weren’t about to help Kokichi torment Gonta. So instead, you decided to do some exploring of the area, hoping to find at least some things of use. You were just about to leave before the voice of mischief assaulted your ears. “S/o, where are you going?” You turned to face the two, who had paused their session to see what you were up to.

“I’m uh, just going to go explore a bit. I’m hoping to find something that might help.” you answered as you made your way to the basement entrance.

“Oh! Be careful, S/o!” you could hear Gonta calling from behind you before Kokichi resumed his joke session.

The air outside was surprisingly nice for a dystopian area, and for once it was quiet. You trekked around the area, halfheartedly inspecting some nooks and crannies in case something caught your eye. You went a little farther, finding your way to the edge of the city where it touched the wilderness. Unfortunately, you saw nothing, but in the distance you could have sworn you heard pained moaning. Your curiosity got the best of you, and you decided to investigate it yourself, following the continuous groans until you found the source. You did your best to keep yourself hidden, but what you saw made you gasp. You hoped it wasn’t loud enough to be heard, but of course, the being heard you and turned around. You could see more clearly. It was Shuichi, hunched, yet alert. You could tell he was in agony, judging from the pained look in his eyes, which developed into a more orange hue, and the low cries of distress reverberating in his throat. Forgetting everything you told yourself not to do, you stood up, giving away your position to him.

“Shuichi..”

When you called his name, his eyes locked onto you, and he began staggering at a quick pace, but something struck out to you. Sure, he was as hostile as any stage 1 infected gets, but you can tell.. You could tell he was still trying to resist the fungus, albeit in vain. You could tell, he knew what he was doing, but he was doing it completely against his own will. He still had his thoughts and feelings. There were still shreds of humanity left within him, for the time being it seems. But just because he didn’t want to hurt you, it didn’t stop the influence of the fungus from forcing him to attempt an attack. You’d managed to dodge and brush off the first two, but you didn’t quite anticipate the third blow. As you stood there dazed, you felt two cold, now-decaying hands grab hold of you in a rough manner. You knew it was the end of the line, and he knew it too. Wrapping your arms around him, you simply accepted your fate. It was an incredibly stupid move, and you knew it well, but you didn’t want to let him go, you didn’t want to kill him, and you just couldn’t lose him a second time. You could have sworn you saw a glimpse of remorse in his eyes before he inevitably went for the killing blow upon your neck..

**Author's Note:**

> Other title ideas included:  
> \- A Fungus Among Us  
> \- Flower Power  
> \- 1 + 1 + spores = 0  
> \- Don't Shoot, I'm Dead  
> \- Shuichi on Shrooms  
> \- Saihara: He's a Fungi!  
> \- Bite Me  
> \- Sportal Kombat  
> \- Suddenly Single  
> \- DOWN WITH THE SICKNESS  
> \- I was a Teenage Spore Sucker


End file.
